Sig Christenson is a veteran military reporter who has made nine trips to the war zone. He writes regularly for Hearst about service members, veterans and heroes, among other topics. He is also the co-founder and former president of Military Reporters and Editors, founded in 2002.

Defense Contracting

02/25/2013

Days before the budget sequester takes effect, military and community
leaders around the state are girding themselves for cuts that could
cost Texas 91,000 jobs.

From Texarkana, Killeen and Del Rio to San Antonio, Corpus Christi
and El Paso, leaders spent the weekend trying to gauge how $46 billion
in defense reductions will affect their cities come Friday.

They have few clues, other than Pentagon
plans to furlough 800,000 civilians for 22 days between April 25 and
Sept. 30, putting them on a four-day workweek. At Army installations
alone, 29,958 Texas civilians will be furloughed, prompting fears of an
economic slowdown.

“I think it's madness,” Richard Dayoub,
president and CEO of El Paso's chamber of commerce, said of the
sequester, adding, “I've heard members of Congress say that to me.”

A Pew Charitable Trust
study said only Virginia and California would be bigger losers than
Texas in the sequester. It also found that 91,600 people in the state
would be out of work if it takes effect. Texas would lose $6.48 billion
in defense contractor revenue and 12,000 civil service jobs.

“The mood is very negative and very fearful about what this is
actually going to turn into long term for the country and, of course,
the local economy,” said Richard Perez, president and CEO of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.